For the second time in less than a week, an active-shooter drill on a military installation led to concerns outside the gates that a tragedy was unfolding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday morning, a 911 call about an active shooter sent police and first responders to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida\u2019s Panhandle, but it turned out the caller did not realize officials were conducting an active shooter training exercise<\/a>, the base said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese exercises are conducted regularly to test our response to ongoing threats,\u201d the base Facebook post stated. \u201cDuring the exercise, a real world 911 call was made from an adjacent building that resulted in a response by the 325th Security Forces Squadron as well as local law enforcement and first responders. First responders have cleared the building, ensured there was no threat, and the all clear was issued. We have resumed normal operations at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That incident follows one on Sept. 23 at Fort Meade in Maryland in which an active-shooter drill led to media reports that several people were killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The base public affairs office apologized the next day<\/a> in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI appreciate all of your concerns and personally apologize for the confusion and distress caused by yesterday\u2019s media leak tied to the installation\u2019s scheduled Force Protection Exercise,\u201d wrote Chad T. Jones. \u201cAs your PAO, I can tell you the last thing you want is for an exercise to become a real-world incident like happened yesterday. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n The confusion happened, said Jones, even though Fort Meade public affairs personnel had \u201ccommunicated this exercise for the past two weeks on multiple mediums including several messages to each organization\u2019s Public Affairs and operation offices; multiple social media posts; at least one installation town hall, and a media advisory\u201d on Sept. 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven with all of that effort, a major miscommunication occurred,\u201d said Jones. \u201cThe installation responded as soon as it was brought to our attention, but not before it spread unnecessary concern in the community. We will absolutely take the lessons learned yesterday to help us be better in future exercises, and more importantly, if a real-world incident ever occurs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding to the confusion, said Jones, was that the training exercise was posted on the installation Facebook page as if it were unfolding in real time (albeit with the word \u201cexercise\u201d repeated three times on the top of each post).<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, Fort Meade will no longer post scenario information on its public facing pages, according to Jones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis should have never happened in the first place as it was not common practice,\u201d Jones stated. \u201cWe will also clarify what \u201cnotional\u201d media organizations will be participating in our exercises before an exercise begins as an additional measure to keep from potential spillage. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public affairs officials at Fort Meade thought that real reporters asking about the exercise were role players and part of the exercise<\/a>, Military.com reported. So they provided information about the fake crisis thinking it was all part of the training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAgain, the Public Affairs Office apologizes for any confusion or distress the incident caused,\u201d Jones wrote in is apology. \u201cWe will do better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This story contains information from the Associated Press<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n